Interrogative Design: Cultural Prosthetics

The course is open to students interested in pursuing artistic, design and research projects that critically interrogate and proactively respond to the existential, communicative and survival needs of the estranged, marginalized and excluded persons and social groups, while addressing, through these designs, the unacceptability of such needs-and of the conditions of life that produce them-in a civilized world.

In Rosalyn Deutsche’s words, the “utopia” of such interrogative design projects should be based on “the hope that their very function will render them obsolete”.

The course will be focused on readings, discussions, and presentations related to the fields and methods of interrogative, critical and speculative design, cultural prosthetics, ‘scandalizing functionalism’, forensic design, monument projection-animation and other, as well as – and most importantly – on the ideation, practical experimentation, development and presentation of students’ original designs and research projects.

After a short introductory assignment the students -individually or in the teams- will work on one selected project, that will be advanced and discussed in class during the semester, presented at the midterm and at the final review, with the participation of the guests critics.

The course is open to all GSD and Harvard students and especially welcomes these from the MDes Areas and Domains.  

 

Up to eight seats will be held for MDes students.

This course will be taught online through Friday, February 4th.